


Purrple

by orphan_account



Series: Keeping Promises [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith is a space cat, Keith pushes people away, Keith really wants his family, Keith turns galra when he gets emotional, Keith turns galra when he gets sick, Lance is the nicest person ever, Lance talks like Ponyo sometimes, Lonely Keith (Voltron), M/M, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Space family, Swearing, White-Haired Keith (Voltron), keith purrs, lance is lance, let my sons live, pidge has female pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-12 23:51:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13558197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith had always taken care of himself. People got scared of him when he was sick. He understood why of course. He knew he wasn’t human, but he didn’t know what he was. He turned purple and fuzzy, grew cat like ears and a tail.





	1. Finding the difference

Keith has always been different. The nuns at the orphanage thought he was devil’s spawn, and couldn’t cure him of his sin. So he was put in the foster system. Chucked around from house to house each time he threw a tantrum.

Keith had always taken care of himself. People got scared of him when he was sick. He understood why of course. He knew he wasn’t human, but he didn’t know what he was. He turned purple and fuzzy, grew cat like ears and a tail. 

One thing the nuns did to Keith was make it known to him that kids most certainly should. Not. have. White. Hair. So they dyed it black. Keith kept dyeing it black whenever he could. He wanted to be accepted. Like anyone else. He wanted a family. Keith was constantly told he couldn’t have one. He was a freak and should be hidden. 

Eventually Keith learned how to hide the purple monster. He just had to stay calm and shut himself away when he got sick. People threw him away less often. The foster homes kept him for a bit longer. Keith learned how to leave, hide, anything to not let the monster escape. 

Then he got accepted into the garrison. Then he met Shiro. Shiro became a brother and mentor. Then Shiro left for Kerberos. Keith new it had all been to good for him. They always leave. This time, this time Keith wasn’t going to let him get away, Shiro had said he wouldn’t leave Keith. Keith intended to make him keep that promise. 

Getting Shiro to keep that promise had gotten him kicked out of the garrison, but it was worth it. For Shiro. The closest thing to family Keith had ever know. Keith was drawn out to the desert. He found caves with strange markings. 

Then Keith found Shiro. He actually FOUND Shiro. Maybe he had a run in with three students from the garrison. But who cares he FOUND Shiro!

The ground sunk from beneath them. They saw a giant blue robot lion. Lance (who apparently already knew keith?) could pilot and talk to said giant blue robot lion. And then they went to space. (The perfect place for an outcast) And went through a portal. They awakened aliens who had been sleeping for 10,000 years. It seemed like a perfect adventure.

Until they got a transmission from the Galra. He saw the galra (called himself Sendek). The alien looked like him. That monster inside him was what had taken Shiro away. It always made people leave. That monster inside him wanted them all dead. It wanted his new (friends?) acquaintances dead. 

But Keith got the Red lion. It had chosen him. If he could keep his emotions in check then he could keep these acquaintances. And you can’t get a cold in space right. No one else was the same species, so germs wouldn’t be equipped to hurt them. Right? No one ever had to know. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to comment. I really makes my day.  
> My tumblr: https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com  
> (Please don't message me tho, but you can send me asks)  
> <3


	2. What he forgot about

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith forgets about a few things when he decides to keep the monster a secret.

_But Keith got the Red lion. It had chosen him. If he could keep his emotions in check then he could keep these aquentenses. And you can’t get a cold in space right. No one else was the same species, so germs wouldn’t be equipped to hurt them. Right? No one ever had to know. Right?_

There are a few things Keith forgot when he decided to keep the monster a secret.  
1\. There is not hair dye in space. 2. It will be very hard to explain why you ran out of a room holding your ears. 3. His blood isn’t red, it's magenta. And they are fighting aliens, so he will eventually bleed. As well as other such things. But there are solutions. Keith came up with a few. 1. He has Albinism. That's what the nuns used to think, that's what they used to tell him when he asked why it was like that. But then other events ensued…. 

2\. He would tell Shiro that that was just how he learned to calm down. (Immediately and away from other people.) And when he was stressed any sound could make it a lot worse. He also would say something about how it wasn’t ruled out as a disorder of any kind so no one had to worry about that. He would get Shiro to feed the story to the rest of the team and it would be fine. It’s not like he was technically lying. He just left out the part were he learned to calm down that way was because he turned into a furry purple alien. And the part about sound wasn’t a lie, when he is slightly turning into the monster he was really sensitive to sound, but that wasn’t the reason he held his ears. 

3\. He could just spit some sciency stuff about hemoglobin to pretty much anyone but Coran. (Yes, he payed attention in science class.) Or he could say it just looked magenta, and that it was really still red. And he could probably just tell Coran it was an human thing. 

The first excuse he had to use was the one about calming down. One time he was in an argument with Lance,he could feel his ears changing, and he just couldn’t calm down while standing there, still in the argument. So he ran, and about half an hour later Shiro found him, he was calm and collected. Keith calmly told him what he had planned to say, it went fine. He asked Shiro to tell the rest of the team. It went just as he planned. Afterwards he thought Lance would taunt him more than he did, or at all, about it. But it seemed that Shiro explained more to the team than he was asked to. 

The second one he had to use was the one about his blood. When Lance asked he just said “The hemoglobin in my blood refracts differently, it is still technically red.” He seemed to buy it, and the knowledge seemed to spread to the rest of the team as well. 

The third one he had to use when his hair started to grow out, and the white roots started to show. He told everyone that he was told he had Albinism. And apparently Pidge had heard of it before and told everyone more about it. Soon his hair was half black and Half white, and it looked really bad. So Coran looked and found bleach for his hair. They couldn’t find black dye anywhere, but this still worked. 

Keith secret was being kept. That was until, he started paying Lance a little more attention.


	3. The stars are all gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The stars are all gone.” Lance said.  
> “What?”  
> “The stars, in your eyes, most of them are gone.”

_Keith secret was being kept. That was until he started paying Lance a little more attention._

One day he caught Lance staring at him. Lance just kind of slowly looked away as if he hadn’t been staring, but Keith saw the small twinge of blush that crept onto Lance’s face. Why the fuck was he blushing? Lance has been acting less Lance ish for a while. At least I think he has, he hasn’t really known Lance for very long. Keith thinks he should probably try and get to know Lance.

But then the Galra attack and he doesn’t think much more on the subject until three days later when he finds Lance in the observatory, late at night.

“What are you doing still up?” Keith questions.

  
“I could say the same thing to you.”

  
“Yeah but you won't until you answer my question.”

  
Lance laughs a little. “Yeah.”

A few ticks pass (Or Keith thinks it's a few ticks, he hasn’t really got a hold of altean time measurements yet) when Keith asks “Well?”

  
Lance is jolted back to reality. “What… Oh sorry. I am just…” A pause. “A little homesick.”

  
Keith hums in response.

  
“What about you?” Keith sits down next to Lance.

  
“Just general insomnia.”

“Do you miss anything about earth?”

  
“I miss the rain, and just weather in general.”

  
“Me too. I miss the beach and my family.”

  
Keith hums. “I’ve never been to the beach.”

  
“The beach is great! It's so pretty, and the waves are so calming. I used to go with my family all the time and surf.”

  
“Tell me about them.” Keith requested.

  
“What?”

  
“Tell me about your family.”

  
“Well, I’m the youngest. I have three older sisters. My mother was the sweetest and meanest person you will ever meet. She gave the best hugs. My oldest sister has a daughter. She is one of the best kids I have ever met. My sister never says no to her or tells her not to do things. She just suggests things for her to do that would make my sister have an easier time, and she does them! It's amazing.” Keith hums. “My youngest sister is an artist, and her girlfriend was always so nice. Now my Papi, my Papi was- is a great chief. Like on par with Hunk. And we all know Hunk is as good as Gordon Ramsay.”

  
“They sound really nice.”

  
“Yeah, my mom would love you. She would shower you with hugs and force my dad's food on you. Claiming you were “too skinny”” Keith Chuckled. “My second oldest sister would try and find some way to rope you into helping at the daycare that she works at…. Oh, gosh. I am so sorry, here I am rambling about my family, and you don't even have one.” His voice was heavy with regret.

  
“Lance, calm down. It's fine, I wanted you to tell me about your family, remember?”

  
“Still,” Lance exhaled “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine Lance. It was to make you feel less homesick. It was nice. To hear about them I mean. And I am not a dick, just because I don't have a family doesn’t mean you can’t talk about yours. And you do feel better, right”

  
“Yeah, I guess.”

  
“How do you even know about that?”

  
“You not having a family?” Keith nodded. “Shiro told us. When he was telling us about why you ran away that first time.” Keith hummed.

 

“Why did you learn to run away?”

  
“What?” Keith asked, slightly in shock at the question. He was quickly forming the sentences together to deepen the excuse.

  
“When you’re stressed, why did you make it a habit that you should run away?”

  
“I um... I... I don’t really know, it was kind of a combination of a lot of things.” Keith was glad the castle lights were dimmed. He felt his ears morph. He tried to calm himself down. Lance hummed in response. Lance wasn’t going to ask for more, good. Keith exhaled a relaxing breath, as he felt his ears go back to normal. Keith looked over at Lance who met his gaze.

“The stars are all gone,” Lance said.

  
“What?”

  
“The stars, in your eyes, most of them are gone.”

  
Keith blushed a bit under Lance’s wide eyes. Keith glanced away, and asked, “What do you mean?”

  
Lance laid down and looked up at Keith. “I mean, that your eyes, they usually have like stars in them, I don't know what it actually is, but they aren’t there right now.” Keith blushed a little harder thinking about how Lance had been looking at him, weird right? “Woah, you blush purple!”

  
“What? Oh, oh yeah.” Keith said as he stood up. “I think I can sleep now, bye.” And he left Lance laying there in the observatory, wondering if he had said something wrong.

Keith looked in the mirror of his bathroom to see his cheeks a slight lavender. He splashed some water on his face and tried to go to sleep. Deep in thoughts about Lance.


	4. To keep the monster in toe.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He pushes and pushes. For everyone's sake.

_Keith looked in the mirror of his bathroom to see his cheeks a slight lavender. He splashed some water on his face and tried to go to sleep. Deep in thoughts about Lance._

It got harder to keep the monster in toe. He could feel it bubbling just beneath the surface, waiting for him to slip up in thought. Waiting for him to get angry, or embarrassed. It was always waiting. It always had been waiting. 

But now it seemed like it was the thing he was stressed about. It was causing a chain reaction of stress. He would be stressed about something someone said. And then would be scared someone would find out because he couldn’t control his emotions. Him being scared about the people he thought of as family (When had that happened?) would find out that the thing they hate most, the thing that has hurt them the most was Keith. Keith was one of them. And they would chuck him out, just like the orphanage, just like the foster homes. 

Shiro promised not to leave him, right? But if Shiro found out, there was no way to get him back from this. It would be impossible. He couldn’t stop people from leaving, but he could stop himself from getting hurt.

So he distanced himself. He closed himself off. Stopped hanging out with the team other than training, and group meals. And even then he didn’t stick around afterwards to chat. He spent his time wandering the castle, and on the training deck. Sometimes he skipped a meal because he couldn’t bring himself to look at the people he would eventually hurt. He didn’t skip out on eating though, he knew that wasn’t healthy. 

The rest of the team started inviting him to do things with them. He always managed to find an excuse to get out of it. They usually left looking, hurt and dejected. Keith knew he was hurting them. But they would hurt less and so would he if he did this. 

He was doing what he had to to protect what was important to him, and himself.


	5. Who is hurting?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith have a talk. And by the time Keith falls asleep he has a realisation.

He was doing what he had to to protect what was important to him, and himself. 

Everyone saw that Keith was hurting. But no one wanted to overstep. No one wanted to push to hard and make it worse. They assumed someone else would do it. Everyone except Lance. Lance thought that Keith was avoiding him. Him specifically, not everyone on the team. Because he didn’t know Keith didn’t hang out with everyone else.

Because he started to avoid everyone after they talked that night. It hadn’t been a gradual thing. He just disappeared from Lance’s life. And it hurt. 

Lance spent so long trying to find out what he did wrong. Lance tried to reach out to Keith. Inviting him to hang out with everyone, anything. Eventually he gave up. Lance gave up on Keith. He stopped inviting him. He stopped trying to chat with him during meals. He let Keith leave. 

It tore him apart. He was letting Keith leave, and he kept rethinking the decision over and over again. Every night he would turn restlessly in bed, thinking of any other way to solve the hurt. Sometimes he would wander the castle late at night, lost in deep thought. 

One night he was pulled from the depths of his mind by a voice. “What am I doing to myself?” The voice asked. It sounded wet from crying. It sounded like it was hurting and alone. Lance quickly found the source of the voice. It was Keith, sitting all alone, in what looked like an altean version of a library. 

“Keith?” Lance asked. “Are you ok?”

Keith jumped. “I didn’t expect anyone to be up.” His eyes seemed to glow a bit in the dim lighting. He closed his eyes and rubbed the tears away. And the faint glow was gone. 

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep. Are you ok?” Lance asked again.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Go back to bed.” 

“I can’t.”

“What?” Keith looked up at Lance who was now standing by his side. 

 

“I can’t sleep Keith.” 

“Oh, are you homesick? You can talk to me about them again.” 

Lance didn’t want to lie, so he just agreed. “Ok, well…” Lance searched for the right story. “One time one of my youngest sister’s girlfriends just kind of disappeared on her. They still saw each other and talked, but only in class. She refused to be with her under any other circumstances. Her girlfriend still hung out with their mutual friends, but only when she wasn’t around. So one day, my sister stopped trying to go on dates or hang out outside of school. And even in school she stopped trying to talk with her. My sister thought her girlfriend hated her. My sister really hated what she was doing, but she kept pushing, because she felt like there was nothing else to do. And then one day, my sister’s girlfriend told everyone she was moving. And my sister was so upset because she didn’t get to spend the last days her girlfriend was still there with her. That's why she pushed my sister away, because she wanted it to hurt less when she left. And my entire family spent the weekend, tending to her. My Papi made ice cream. My mother made sure she was fully stocked with blankets and chick flicks. The rest of my sisters and I spent the entire time hugging her. There was always someone hugging her. She went through three boxes of tissues. With all of us together we turned her girlfriend leaving into a weekend of sleepy cuddles. It's one of those memories that is sad by circumstance, but it's still ended up a happy memory.”

Keith hummed. “That's a really nice story Lance.” 

“Oh my god.” Lance mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Your doing the same thing my sister’s girlfriend was doing. Distancing yourself. Are you going to leave!?” Lance frantically pieced together. 

“What are you talking about?” Keith felt the monster growl.

“You… you haven’t been talking to me at all since that time we talked in the middle of the night. You never come when I invite you to hang out with us. You’re planning on leaving voltron aren’t you?” Lance felt even more hurt than before, tears pricked in his eyes. He hadn’t really considered that he might not be the reason for Keith’s odd behaviors. 

“Oh, gosh Lance.” Keith mumbled. He had nothing to say. He was going to leave, he just didn’t know when, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want them to hurt. There where a lot of things that were going to happen that he really wishes wouldn’t.

“You aren’t you!?” Lance started yelling. He was angry. He was angry at Keith for not telling him. He was angry at himself for not seeing the signs. He was angry that he did exactly what his sister did. But he was sad, because his friend, whom he cared so much for, was trying to leave him behind. By choice no less. He wanted to leave. Keith was in control, no one was going to make him leave. He didn’t have parents that were going to take him away. “Answer me dammit!” Tears started to roll down Lance’s face. “Is this what you’re doing to yourself? Pushing yourself away? What so it hurts less?”

“Lance, hey.” Keith interrupted Lances stream of questions. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m sorry if I made it somehow seem like it was your fault. Because it’s not your fault. It's all my fault.” Keith felt the monster threaten to leap out. Keith coughed. “I won’t leave unless someone wants me to.” Keith held his hands over his ears. He felt it coming. It was so close. “Lance I will be back in 5 minutes. Wait here.” And he ran out of the room. 

Keith spent the 5 minutes in a room just next door. He calmed himself down. He buried the monster as deep as he could, and he headed back. 

“I… I didn’t think you would actually be back.” Lance said. He had shining streaks on his cheeks.   
“Everything is really hard to explain, and I don't think I can explain all of it, so can you just ask me questions with small answers, so I can at least try and give you an explanation?” 

“Was your plan to get me to want you to leave, so you could leave?”

Easy “No, Lance. I… uhh. Don't want anyone to want me gone. I don't want to leave.”

“Why were you avoiding me?”

Harder. “I wasn’t avoiding you, I was,” Keith breathed a heavy sigh “Avoiding everyone.”

“Ok, then why were you avoiding everyone?”

_Shit, I thought he would move on._ Keith thought. VERY HARD “Sit back, and listen Lance. This will be a long one.” _And chalked full of bullshit. It's still true. The bullshit has correlation. But all the correlation has one single bit of causation. And I ain’t tellin’ you shit about that._ Keith thought and inwardly laughed. “I have literally been abandoned all of my life. Shiro was the first person to stick with me. And he promised not to leave. Everyone always said that I would become “Part of the family” but I never did. They chucked me to the next person who would deal with me as soon as they could. It got better as I got older, and I didn’t get left behind as quickly, but I still eventually got left behind. One of my happiest memories was when I had stayed with a family for a month for the first time. And then not three days later they chucked me out. Shiro promised he would stay but then he got lost in space. And didn’t come back. 

 

“People always leave me behind. So when I saw myself getting attached, I tried to distance myself. But I guess I was too late.”

“Gosh, Keith. I promise I will never leave you behind. If you promise to join us again.”

“I promise I will join you again. I am going to go to bed now.” Keith started walking out of the room, but then turned around. “And Lance,” Lance looked at him, he saw that every single star was gone from Keiths eyes. Not a single tiny spark was left. “Don't make promises you can’t keep.”

“What the fuck!” Lance yelled.

“What I am just telling you, that eventually, you are going to break that promise. And It won't be your fault. I won’t blame you. I know for a fact it will be me. So please don't make that promise, Shiro already made it, and I know now that he is going to leave.” 

Lance placed his hands firmly on Keiths shoulders. He saw some of the stars come back. “Keith, trust me when I say that I won't leave you if you don't leave us.”

“And I won't leave you guys. Just don't question me if I suddenly leave the room.”

“Of course. It may still be weird, but it's part of who you are. We won't make you feel bad about it.”

“Ok, I am going to go to bed now.” And with that Keith left. 

He lay there on his bed, and his last thought before falling asleep was _Fuck, there is no way to get out of this one un scathed. I have a crush on Lance._


	6. An overwhelming scared

_Fuck, there is no way to get out of this one un scathed. I have a crush on Lance._

Keith started joining the team out of training and meals again. Everyone thought that meant that he was ok again. That someone had gotten through to them. But he started staying with the team for shorter amounts of time. There was a time when he only stayed for ten minutes. 

Keiths crush on Lance was getting worse. Lance was always so nice. And they stopped fighting, which should be a good thing. But it meant Keith was running out of the room sooner, leaving everyone sooner. He needed to get this crush under control. He was constantly running out of rooms. It wasn’t fun to be so scared. 

Constantly scared that he would be left behind. Constantly scared that his emotions would prevent voltron from forming. One scared was feeding into another scared to create an overwhelming scared. 

Keith was scared the team would find him when he was calming down, or think that there was some other reason for why he left. So he started coming back. He came back after he ran away. Purely to protect his secret. Not at all because he actually wanted to hang out with the other paladins. That would mean getting attached to the other paladins. And that could NOT happen. 

Every time Keith caught himself getting attached he left.


	7. In the darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finds Keith in a dark room, and decides to give him a kiss.

_Every time Keith caught himself getting attached he left._

One day, when training had ended and Keith had left just a few minutes early, Lance wandered the castle. It was pretty aimless. But he was also looking for Keith. He just wanted someone to talk to that wasn’t Hunk, Pidge, or Shiro. 

And as Lance was walking around the castle, not quite looking for Keith. He heard coughing coming from the room next to the library. 

It was pretty dark in there, but when he opened the door small trickles of light from the hallway flew in. Just enough to see a figure standing there. It made an “Eeep” sound and ducked away. 

“Keith?” Lance asked the darkness. 

“Hi, Lance. Whatcha doing.” 

“Just looking for you, you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine now.” Lance turned on the light of the room. It looked like it was a small study. It was mostly covered in dust except for a few books on a shelf, the altean version of a desk chair, long strips of elastic, and a black leather notebook.

“Whatcha doing?”

“This is the room I go to to calm down usually.” Lance saw a brief remnant of tears in Keith’s starry eyes. 

“You’ve been getting stressed a lot lately, haven’t you?” 

“Yeah, quite a bit. It’s not fun.”

“I would imagine so. Is there anything we can do to help?” 

Keith shook his head. “Not really. Everything is kind of a garbled mess in my head.”

“Can I do something I think might help?”

“Sure. I guess.”

Lance closed the door and took a seat next to Keith on the desk. Lance looked at Keith beside him and grabbed his face. Keith blushed his slight purple “Wha- what are you doi-” He was cut off by lance kissing him. It was like magic. But then the monster rose from within. Lance pulled back a little his eyes still closed. 

“I’ve been waiting to do that since you first lost the stars in your eyes.” Lance’s eyes slowly opened to see a galra wearing Keith’s armor. The galra had its head buried in its arms. 

Lance rushed at the galra. Pinning its arms behind it's back. “What did you do with Keith?” Lance was less scared, and more angry. All he could think was _What the **fuck** have they done to my friend?_

The galra stiffened. “Come on, come on. Why won't it go back?” it muttered as Lance dragged it's wrists over to where the comms unit was on the wall, next to the door like it was in every room.

Lance held down the button and said “There in a galra on the ship! It’s in the-” Lance got cut off by a kick in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Lance released his grip on the galra. It swiftly got the upper hand, quickly tying Lance up and shoving him in the corner of the room. 

The galra started pacing.


	8. Go back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is the nicest person ever.

_The Galra started pacing._ And the tears started to fall. “Come on, come on. Go back, go back.” Lance could see the distress emanating from the galra. It looked like it was on the verge of a panic attack.

“Go back to what?” Lance wondered aloud.

“Normal you quiznacking idiot. I can’t do it. I can usually do it!” It's voice raised a bit at the end of its sentence. “Calm, calm, calm.” 

“Saying calm over and over again isn’t going to calm you down.”

“What do you suggest instead.”

Lance cared about people. And voltron was about helping people in need. And this Galra who had been impersonating Keith and tied him up, needed help. So he went with “First tell me your real name, then I will help.”

“My name is still Keith.”

“What…?” Lance asked.

“My name hasn’t changed Lance, help me!” 

“Ok then,” Lance whistled, he was oddly calm considering he was tied up by the enemy. But maybe he could stall, the others were surely searching the castle for the galra intruder. “Breath with me. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.” he counted slowly.

Keith breathed, he stopped pacing, and slowly he looked more and more human.   
Lance choose this opportunity to ask. “What the quiznack is happening.” 

“I’ll explain, in a moment.” He walked to the intercom, and pressed the button. “False alarm guys there was no galra, Lance was just being an idiot.”

“Not true!” Lance yelled. But that was the wrong thing to yell, the team thought he meant that him being an idiot was what he was yelling about. So Hunk replied.

“Thank goodness Keith, we were so scared, we couldn’t find you guys anywhere, we thought it got you.”

“Nope all it good, other than Lance scaring the shit out of everyone.” Lance choose to stay silent. He didn’t know what he could say. “See you guys at dinner.”

A chorus of “See ya”’s came through the comms. Keith’s white hair swishes around his face as he turns to Lance. “Sooooo. I lied to you.” 

“Heck yeah you fucking did!” Lance yelled.

“And I am really sorry about that. Lance, I have been sorry since we saw Sendek. Can you…” Keith felt the monster reach out. “Look, Lance. I am not going to be able to tell you what's happening, on my own. I can’t explain shit.”


	9. Who are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Q&A but with a higher dose of death.

_I can’t explain shit._

“Here’s a question, untie me?” The question was close to a command. 

“Only if you promise me you won't tell, or do anything, I really do want to explain.” Lance believed him, the galra that looked human, did want to explain. So he nodded.

Keith came over and untied him. “I assume you have more questions.”

“Heck yeah I do. First of all, really what is your name?”

“My name is still keith, and I am the same person that met you while we were saving Shiro. Or whenever you met me. You said you already knew me, but I don't think I knew you.”

“When did the whole turning purple thing start?”

“I’ve always been like this. But until we saw Sendek, I have no clue what I was.”

“What happens to you?”

“I honestly don't know. And it sucks. I don't know why I am like this. But I knew this would happen eventually. Don't worry Lance you won't have to keep my secret, I’ll leave. No matter how much I want to stay.” Keith arms were purple and there were tears forming in his eyes. 

“I haven’t said I wanted you to leave yet Keith. Is this why you got chucked around so much as a kid?”

“Yeah when I was a baby the nuns thought I was devil spawn. They made sure I knew I was unnatural. They kept my hair black. One day they gave up on trying to “make me pure” and tossed me into the foster system. Where I was always one temper tantrum or cold away from getting kicked to the next family. That's why I was always left as a kid. Everyone always leaves. And you all will too. I knew that as soon as I saw Sendek.”

“What makes you turn galra?”


	10. I think...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He never made a promise he couldn't keep.

_What makes you turn galra?_

“Its like… all based on emotions. So if I am angry, or really anytime I would normally blush I turn galra. It's pretty complicated, but I can usually calm down, or leave before anyone notices. And when I am sick I turn galra. I always took care of myself when I was sick, because anyone else was too scared to get near me.”

“So when I kissed you…?”

“There was a stream of things that I couldn’t calm down about. First it was you kissing me. Then it was you freaking out. And then I couldn’t get calm. And it wasn’t like I could leave, you had already seen me, and I already looked galra. And everyone was looking for a galra, so if I was seen...”

“That explains the panic attack.”

“Ha, no. That's not even half of the panic attack.”

“What was the other half.”

Keith looked down. “I am going to have to leave aren’t I?” He felt the monster coming, he let it. “You guys can’t have a galra on the team, I’ve known from the start that you guys would leave me.” Keith pushed his hair out of his face clumsy. “Shiro was kidnapped by them. Pidge’s family has been taken. Allura and Coran’s whole world was taken. I knew I was going to leave. I just really wanted to delay it. It shouldn’t have been this soon. I run away when I feel it coming, just so I won't have to leave forever. Cause, I think I love you guys. You guys actually became family. And I really don't want to leave.”

“Then don’t.” Lance said simply.

“What?” Keith looked forward at Lance. Lance saw a thousand galaxies.


	11. 1,000 galaxies for you.

_Lance saw a thousand galaxies._

“Don't go. It's pretty simple. I promised you I would never want you to leave, if you promised to try and stay. You seem to be holding up your end of the promise. I didn’t make a promise I couldn’t keep.”

“But you said….” Keith trialed off. The monster had faded out long ago.

“But nothing. I said that when I thought you were a tratous galra. But now I know you are Keith, my friend. And the person I kind of have a crush on.” Keith felt the monster quickly rise through him. The process stung, for the first time in years. 

“Ow, shit! What the fuck, it hasn’t hurt in years.” 

“I am guessing that you haven’t been in a relationship before?”

“You think it's easy to keep friend when whenever you have fun or have an argument you turn into a monster?”

“Oh, yeah…”

“Why?”  
“I assume it hurt because it happened fast?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Wouldn’t happen fast unless you liked me back.”

“Oh, yeah….” Keith’s face turned a deeper purple.

“Hey Keith.”

“Yeah?”

“Last question.” Keith nodded. “Did you like it when I kissed you?”

“A lot.” The monster faded away when it was met with admiring eyes. It was calming.

Lance leaned in. When he pulled away, he was met with yellow eyes, they looked at him, wide with something. Lance couldn’t tell why they were so wide. Then he realised, they were yellow, not purple, and he jumped a little.

“So, promise not to tell.”

“I promise.”


	12. Is there an us?

_I promise._

“Hey, last question I promise.” Keith hummed, he looked human again, Lance saw an ocean of stars. “How do we tell the team about us? Do we tell the team about us? Is there an us?” Lance blurted out.

“That was three questions.”

“Just answer them Kitten.”

“Of all the pet names! You choose that one!”

“Answer the questions Kitten.”

“Answer my question first.” Lance hummed, and snuggled up to Keith. “Why do you like me? I am grumpy and closed off. I am not good with people, mostly cause I don't get to get close to people.”

“Keith I like you because you are spunky, and pretty. And you care about people. Just because you think you are worth being left behind, doesn’t mean you are. I know it's a big responsibility but I love you, I really do.”

“Yeah, you can be my boyfriend.” Keith giggled out. “I love you too Lance.” Keith exhaled. “But we can’t tell anyone.”

“Why not?” Lance pouted.

“Because, whenever you flirt with me I’ll turn purple. And you would die without PDA. If we just keep it a secret it will be easier for both of us. And I am not going to tell Allura, or Shiro about this. It would be really bad.”

“Yeah, their reactions would be worse than mine.” Lance said sadly.

“Lets just have smooches in private.” Keith suggested, adding a kiss to Lance’s nose.

“Yeah?” Lance kissed Keith’s nose. 

“Yeah.” Lance stroked Keiths Hair. “Holly shit! Are you purring?”

“Maybe?”

“This is the cutest thing ever. You really are a Kitten.”

They held each other tightly, and laughed. Stealing quick kisses from each other for an hour after that. Then they went to dinner and stayed as far away from each other as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment. I really makes my day.  
> My tumblr: https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com  
> (Please don't message me tho, but you can send me asks)  
> <3


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